ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL Jessica

ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL Jessica Williams Jessica. Williams 22@education. wa. edu. au Josie Robinson Josie. Robinson@education. wa. edu. au

The complexity of Middle Schooling

What skills do we want to equip our students with? Critical thinkers NOT Robots Risk takers NOT Safety seekers Justifiers NOT Blind arguers Collaborative workers NOT Isolated test takers Responsible participators NOT Ignorant consumers Effective communicators NOT Blank screens

Students’ cognitive load Cognitive Load Theory Since the brain can only do so many things at once, we should be intentional about what we ask it to do.

Students’ cognitive load – what can we do in practice Provide students with visualisation activities Avoid the overload of information Think back to our lesson when we covered narrative structure Avoid reading from the Power. Point Think back to our description of key characters Avoid asking students to follow along Think back and visualise the setting of the short story we studied Present these in a: - List-Write-Draw - Graphic organiser - Image sketch or drawing

Opportunities for learning Cognitive disequilibrium is experienced when we challenge thinking and factual knowledge of our students and they will try to restore equilibrium.

Cognitive disequilbrium as assessment FROM class debate short story anthology study film review TO TO TO defending an opposing position investigative hierarchy of texts based on genre, structure, character and aesthetic value film evaluation

It’s all about REFRAMING

Backward mapping of SKILLS not CONTENT Increase OPPORTUNITY Instill REFLECTION from FEEDBACK Facilitate a POSITIVE MINDSET

From our experiences Building positive habits early Dedicate time to building habits, balanced with content. It is as simple as “How do YOU think you went. ” Reading Comprehension Challenge

From our experience Assessment as a process (NOT as set and forget) Building capacity in students to actively reflect for improvement. Lesson 1: decode and plan Lesson 2: writing Lesson 3: review feedback and improve

In an ideal world… How can we achieve a workable and realistic balance in our classrooms to develop students’ skills? Ongoing positive reading habits Ongoing opportunities for writing Feedback Teacher-student Peer-peer Group-group

In an ideal world… What would ASSESSMENT and FEEDBACK look like? § Valid § Authentic § Connection to the real world In Years 7 and 8, students interact with peers, teachers, individuals, groups and community members in a range of face-to-face and online/virtual environments. They experience learning in both familiar and unfamiliar contexts that relate to the school curriculum, local community, regional and global contexts. These texts explore themes of interpersonal relationships and ethical dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives. Explore the interconnectedness of Country/Place, People, Identity and Culture in texts including those by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors (ACELT 1806)

How can we make this real for us? What can you do to take a step in the right direction? How many assessments do you have in each semester, for each course? What makes these assessments rich tasks? How many chances do I give my students to rehearse their understanding in different ways? How many opportunities for feedback are students given prior to the assessment? What are you doing to facilitate reflective practice?

References and Resources www. adolescentsuccess. org. au (image copyright 2018 Adolescent Success Inc. ) Teaching Middle Years: Rethinking Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment by Katherine Main, Nan Bahr and Donna Pendergast (2020) Middle Schooling in Western Australian Public Schools: What’s working, what’s not and why? published by The Department of Education and Training (2008) The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller (2009) Cognitive Load Theory in Practice – Examples for the classroom by Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation published by the NSW government Department of Education The Secret of Effective Feedback by Dylan William published in Educational Leadership April 2016 vol 73 pg 1015 How Learning and Cognitive Science can Improve Student Outcomes by Art Graesser, Gina Rodriguez and Sarah J Brasiel. 2013. Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning by Pooja K Agarwal and Patrice M Bain. Cognitive Load Diagram (image copyright taken from mcdreeamiemusings. com)